This collection of original essays and poems features thirty writers who explore their own fears of aging and how they came to embrace the freedom of their final decades. Posing nude, having a boyfriend at 80, or riding horseback through the mountains inspire some of these writers, while others are content to plant fresh flowers, hug their grandchildren and enjoy the gift of time. Staying active and healthy is an important theme woven through the book. From a poem that exposes the destructive power of ageism to an essay full of joy for being older and wiser, readers will be inspired to re-think their own plans for the second half of life. If you are thinking about how you're going to navigate through your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond, you will find a companion in the pages of this book with pieces by award-winning writer Julia E. Hubbel, British writer Ann Saddler, humorist Roz Warren and author Beth Bruno. The volume features the best stories in Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age, a publication on Medium. It is edited by Nancy Peckenham, the founder of Crow’s Feet and a former CNN executive producer, documentary filmmaker and local news reporter who enjoys shaking up old ideas about what it means to grow old. The words in this volume ring true because they are written by people who have experienced both the freedom of post-career life and the sting of social standards that rob seniors of their worth. I know about this discrimination firsthand. I left an executive job at age 46 to raise my children and a decade later knocked on closed doors trying to get back in. Ageism got me mad, depressed even, and the face in the mirror did nothing to lift my spirts back again.I started to embrace aging gradually. First, I had to spend a lot of time with my mother in her assisted living residence where I saw first hand the diversity among the residents and the positive attitude of folks well into their 90s. Her neighbors were kind, they watched out for each other and shared a little conversation. Some hadn't seen a family member visit in months or years.I started writing about my mother's relentless optimism despite severe short-term memory loss. Then I started examine my own fears about aging, felt the excitement of pushing myself to do more physically and mentally and wrote about that, too.  In 2019, I invited other writers on Medium to start a publication called Crow's Feet: Life As You Age. This volume contains the best of the first year.So enjoy meeting these writers and I hope you will be inspired by their stories about letting go of expectations and allowing a new spirit to take flight. Aging isn't what it used to be. Older people sitting at home, baking cookies, watching tv and waiting to die. ​They're learning, teaching, sharing, exploring... living rich lives far beyond what the stereotypes allow. In this new book, a collection of stories about life as we age, you'll meet 30 writers who have grabbed life with both hands. Their pointed, funny, and inspiring essays and poems shine a light on what life can be like after 50. Nancy Peckenham is a former CNN executive producer and documentary filmmaker and the author of numerous articles and books.   She founded Crow's Feet to build a community of writers who are shaking up old ideas about what it means to grow old.